


The Burden of Forever

by pretty_ish



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, But dont worry it happened a while ago, Child Abuse, Elves, Fantasy, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Jisung is an elf, M/M, Tea Parties, Tea under the stars
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-02
Updated: 2018-12-02
Packaged: 2019-09-05 14:21:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16812376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pretty_ish/pseuds/pretty_ish
Summary: He had a lifetime of love on his walls. Men and Women, thick and thin, every shape and size. Every type of face. He had loved so many times and his wall was his proof.Chris who carried the burden of forever, had loved so many but had never loved like this.





	The Burden of Forever

Chris had kept his eyes open. He was looking for something. What exactly? A boy. Maybe this time the boy would be smiling. Maybe he'd be laughing. Every time he came he had a new look on his face. However, the look was never good.

He was looking for a familiar elf boy who came by his house every day. He would sit down in the field outside the house and write. Chris had never seen him anywhere else but that field. So he must have lived farther away.

Or perhaps he never went anywhere but the field. Maybe he was an indoor person. Whatever it was, Chris didn't know, he had never spoken to the boy. The only thing he knew about him was that he had elf ears, bleach blonde hair, and loved to write surrounded by daisies.

As time went by, Chris almost admired the boy. When the weather was cold, the boy would sit in the field of snow, watching the snow fall with a red nose, cold from the nips of winters chilly breeze. When it rained, he brought his little umbrella and watched as the rain poured into puddles.

When spring came, the little elf boy would make crowns out of tall grass and little daisies. Chris liked to sit in front of his window, read a book, and watch the elf boy write.

It seemed creepy and Chris admitted, it was creepy. It almost felt like stalking, but there was some kind of feeling that the boy gave him that made him feel like he wasn't real. Like the was just a spirit he had been seeing. No one else seemed to notice him so it seemed plausible.

When the boy came to the field, it was late. Later than the usual time he came around. He sat down at his usual place in the field and stared down at the daisies. He pulled one out of its roots in the ground before staring at it with some kind of look of envy.

Tears fell from the boys eyes and he threw the flower, beginning to cry. He sounded pained. Almost like someone had stabbed him. Chris' eyes widened and his mind ran around itself, trying to figure out what to do.

He watched as the boy loudly sobbed and cried. When he calmed down a bit, Chris decided to finally go outside and check on him. He brought a pack of tissues with him just in case. Slowly, he approached the boy, startling him by tapping him on the shoulder.

The blonde turned around quickly, shocked by Chris' appearance. He looked confused, face tearstained and eyes wide. Chris handed him the pack of tissues.

"Are you okay?" He asked. The other boy nodded, his face red. "No you're not." The latter just looked away. "What's wrong?"

He didn't answer, opening his mouth to speak, but no words escaped as he shut his mouth quickly. Chris sat down in front of him, offering a reassuring smile.

"Sometimes it's easy to talk to strangers." He said. The elf boy made eye contact for a few seconds. His eyes were the colour of caramel and dark chocolate. Soft and smooth, with a honey coloured tint. He was timid and shy.

"Who are you?" He asked. Chris smiled and extended his hand.

"I'm Chris." He simply said. The boy looked at his hand before pushing his blonde hair back, exposing his ears.

"You're not disgusted by a knife ear?" He asked. Chris shook his head.

"Of course not." He reassured. The other boy nodded and shook his hand.

"Jisung." He said quietly.

"Now that I can put a name to the face, you're no longer a stranger." Chris said. "Now, can you tell me what's wrong, Jisung?" Jisung remained quiet and hesitant.

Jisung opened up after a bit of coaxing, telling Chris everything. About how he was picked on for his ears to the fact that he was a half blood and his mother a human. He said she had hated how much his ears reminded her of his father so much to the point that she tried to cut them off that day which sent Jisung into tears.

Chris had invited him inside for a cup of tea to calm the boy down. He had sat him down on a seat in the kitchen while he prepared the tea. Jisung looked around.

The house was filled with plants and flowers. There was a rectangular pot of African violets in the window sill, pots of pothos and string of pearls plants dangling from the ceiling in every corner. A sanseveria sitting in the corner of the dining room and a tiny moon cactus in the middle of the dining table and Jisung could smell the familiar scent of incense burning.

It was all very cute and reminded Jisung of something his grandmother had told him. _People who are good with plants have good souls._

It seemed Chris even had a cat. The silver tabby jumped onto Jisung's lap, sniffing him everywhere before climbing up his shirt and onto his shoulders.

"Ah, sorry, she does that." Chris said. Jisung just smiled, petting the cats tiny head.

"What's her name?" He asked.

"Chuu." Jisung laughed at the name, scratching the cats chin.

"Chuu? Oh, so cute..." He cooed.

"So, why is the field your go to place?" Chris asked, pouring the boiling beverage into the elf boys tea cup. Jisung stared into the black tea for a bit, shrugging.

"I like the daisies." He said quietly. Chris smiled to himself as he sat down across from the boy.

"So you like flowers?" Jisung nodded. "That's nice, I'm a florist actually." Jisung gasped and looked up, eyes wide and sparkly.

"Oh, wow, really?" He asked. Chris nodded. "Do you own a shop?"

"Yep, downtown. I run it with my friends." Chris explained. Jisung looked intrigued. He began to ask several questions about what types of flowers they get, what kinds of plants they have, the arrangements they make, and every possible question in the book.

"What's it called?" Jisung asked, his voice laced with excitement.

"Forever Flowers." Chris told him.

"A cute name." Jisung said, letting out a small giggle. Chris began to notice the lateness of the time. They had talked about flowers for about an hour or so without realising it. From what Chris had learned, Jisung's favourite flowers were Alstromeria.

From what Jisung had learned, Chris' favourite flowers were phalaenopsis violacea orchids. Ones Jisung had never seen before. Chris promised to bring some home to show him one day.

"It's getting late... Do you think you should head home?" Chris asked. Jisung looked at his phone. From the look on his face, something wasn't good and he just slowly nodded.

"I...Yeah, you're right. I should get going." Jisung said, standing up and putting away his dishes.

"Don't bother with that, I can get it." Chris said, taking the dishes from him. Jisung gave a small smile. "Here, I'll give you my number so we can keep in touch. If you need anything, you can always call me." Chris said, taking Jisung's phone to put in his number.

"Thank you for everything." Jisung said.

"Anytime." Chris reassured before the younger left the house.

So the boy came over again in a few days. Then again, and again, and again. He seemed to be coming over at least twice a week. Chris didn't mind of course. In fact he liked the company.

Jisung was unexpectedly bubbly and confident around him. His presence was like the feeling of warmth on a summers night. So calm and subtle yet beautiful and exhilarating at the same time.

As time passed, Chris began to feel his heart flutter when Jisung spoke. They began to become more comfortable with each other. Simply sharing a blanket turned into cuddling on the couch when they watched movies together.

Chris couldn't control these feelings that bloomed inside of him. He knew exactly what it was. He had experienced it several times. His heart sped up, his tummy tickled, and he felt himself melt when Jisung laughed. Chris who was ice cream on a hot summers day was melting into a sticky puddle of goo on a warm summer night.

All because of this little elf boy with the pretty eyes and sharp lips.

Of course, Jisung being the innocent little angel he was, had no idea of the effect he had on the latter. He had not had much experience with friends other than his only friend, Felix, who was very close and touchy with him. So he thought it was normal to cuddle and hold hands with your friends.

Despite how nervous it made Chris, he continued to allow Jisung to do as he pleased. Seeing the boy happy was nice. Even if his heart was speeding 150mph.

As the weather changed from fall to winter, they began drinking hot chocolate inside and watching Christmas movies, eating little sweets Chris would make for them.

When winter turned to spring they planted flowers and had little tea parties in the field. It was Jisung's idea for the tea parties and Chris' idea to plant more flowers since the daisies were becoming boring. When spring turned to summer, Jisung was off school and around more often.

Jisung would lie and tell his mother he was sleeping over at Felix's when he was actually with Chris, camping out in the field and staring at the stars. That's when Chris learned that Jisung spoke nonsense when he was tired, asking strange hypothetical questions and posing interesting arguments such as,

_"Is deja vu a vision of something similar from your past life? If we evolved from apes why are apes still a thing? When you talk to plants do they understand you? My science teacher says they're alive so they must hear me... or at least feel my voice."_

It was very precious to Chris but he never answered, only listened as Jisung went on and on about nothing. However he said one thing that was very interesting.

"We should have tea under the stars... with little cakes and everything." Jisung said. Chris smiled.

"That sounds cute." He told him.

Jisung helped out at Chris' shop with Chris' friends Minho and Seungmin. Chris found out Jisung was a lot more shy around others, stuttering when Minho or Seungmin spoke to him. Minho found it endearing but Seungmin found it concerning. However, Jisung warmed up to the two boys as quickly as he did with Chris.

Chris enjoyed taking breaks from work to watch Jisung clean the roses. It sounded weird but he looked so pretty holding the rose so delicately in his hand. The way he stared at the roses in such a sweet way made Chris' tummy tumble. He admired the way Jisung admired flowers.

"Hyung, what are you doing?" Chris heard from behind himself as he stared at Jisung who was in the front of the shop, wrapping bouquets. Chris jumped and turned around, shushing Seungmin. "You're weird." Seungmin said.

"Stooooop, don't tell him I was watching him." Chris pleaded. Seungmin laughed at him.

"I'm gonna tell him." Chris shook his head and Seungmin just smirked.

"I swear to all that is holy if you say anything to him, you're fired." Chris threatened. Seungmin laughed at him even harder.

"You cant fire me, I'm head of inventory!" He said. Chris groaned and rolled his eyes. "Oh and we're out of staples."

"Oh, thanks. I'll go to the store now." Seungmin turned around, walking away.

"Jisungie hyung!" Seungmin announced. Chris ran after him.

"No, don't!"

When Jisung got home that night, he was met with a dark house. He assumed his mother had either gone out or gone to bed but the only visible light that was on was the one from Jisung's bedroom. The one he knew he turned off before leaving in the morning. Which meant only one thing. His mother was waiting for him.

He slowly made his way to the light source, debating on whether or not he should enter the room. However, he did in the end, being met with his mother sitting on the edge of his bed, staring at him as he walked in. She didn't look very impressed.

"Where the _hell_ have you been all day?" She seethed. Jisung felt his breath leave his lungs as it hitched. The woman waited for an answer.

"I... I was..." He knew his mother would be angry to know he had a job. She never wanted him out of the house and now that he worked at the flower shop, he was out of the house a lot more than before.

"Where were you?" She reiterated. Jisung bit his lip and looked away.

"At the flower shop... I work there now..." Jisung said. He felt the woman frown. He knew she was disappointed. Angry that her son went behind her back and did something without her.

"Excuse me?" She gasped. "What do _you_ know about flowers?" She laughed. Jisung felt a bit hurt by the comment. He knew a lot about flowers but that wasn't the point. It was that his mother knew nothing about him.

He loved flowers. He loved plants. He knew how to care for them, how to bring them back to life, everything. He knew everything about plants, but she knew nothing about that.

She knew nothing about him.

"Don't say that." Jisung said, his voice quiet and shaky. The woman laughed louder.

"Don't say what? The truth?!" She exclaimed, standing up out of her seat. "You know nothing about plants or animals, or anything! You're just a stupid knife ear!" She yelled.

"You know nothing about me!" Jisung snapped back. "You're my mother but you don't know anything!" He shouted, shutting his eyes tightly in fear of a hand being raised at him.

"How dare you?" She hissed. "I do everything for you and this is how you treat me?! Lying and accusing me of neglect?!" She came closer and Jisung flinched back with every step she took until his back was against the wall. She grabbed his ear pulling at it and grimacing at the point.

"It's disgusting. You're disgusting." She told him. Jisung closed his eyes tightly, trying to think of something else to block her out. "You and your stupid ears. You're just like him. Just like your disgusting father! Why don't you just follow him! Leave me! You have a job, don't you? Support yourself!" She shouted. She pulled on his ear, dragging him into the kitchen.

"These things. These ugly ears of yours. They need to go!" She yelled, grabbing the scissors. Jisung's eyes widened and filled with tears.

"Please stop! Get away!" Jisung shouted, trying to get away from the woman. However, she grabbed his neck with one hand and pointed the scissors at him with the other.

"I swear to god if you move, you won't look the same as when you walked in here." She threatened. Jisung surrendered. Tears fell down his face as he felt the metal of the scissors being pressed against his ear.

Chris heaved a large sigh as he stood up to get the door. It was 10pm and he was tired. Someone had been knocking on the door violently for at least ten minutes. After the first time, Chris thought they would go away, but it got louder and louder and he finally got up to get it.

Behind the door was Jisung. Tear stained cheeks and blood on one side of his head. It was confusing to look at. The boy sobbed and sobbed, apologizing for showing up so late.

"I'm so sorry, hyung but... I... I can't go anywhere else, please..." He cried. "Help me." Chris' eyes widened and he moved the boy inside. He brought him to the bathroom. To look at his head.

"Jisung what the fuck did you do?" He asked, pushing his hair back, revealing his left ear, all cut up. Jisung cried, shaking his head and hiccuping.

"It wasn't me!" He denied. Chris looked at his, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Who, Jisung? Who hurt you?" His voice was filled with anger. Who had hurt his precious Jisung? Chris wanted to know. He wanted to hurt whoever had hurt Jisung. He wanted to hurt them so bad.

"My..." He didn't finish his sentence, only cried harder. Chris caught on. He knew who. Who else would do this?

"She fucking did this to you?!" Chris asked. Jisung nodded. "She cut a piece of your ear off for what?! What the fuck was she doing?! Jisung why didn't you tell me she was like this!?" He kept yelling, making Jisung cry even more.

"I'm sorry!" Jisung yelled back. "Please stop yelling at me! I'm sorry! I didn't know! I didn't know she was like this! Usually it's only words and teasing about cutting them off but she.... She actually cut it... My ear... She..." He couldn't finish his sentence. Chris engulfed him in a hug allowing him to cry onto his shoulder.

"I didn't mean to yell at you. It's not your fault, I'm so sorry." Chris said. "You're safe now. I promise." He cleaned up his ear, wrapping some bandage on it before making Jisung a cup of tea and sending him to bed. They sat in Chris' bed, talking about what had happened.

Jisung glanced around the room. It was filled with antique chairs, a dresser, and a wardrobe. String lights hung from the bed. It was all very fairytale like. There was a specific wall that had caught Jisung's eye.

On the wall were pictures of men and women, thick and thin, all shapes and sizes. Old charcoal drawings to black and white photos, sepia photos, polaroids, and fresher, newer looking printed photos. No one on the wall looked familiar.

"Hyung... Who are those people?" Jisung asked, pointing to the collage of pictures. Chris looked shocked.

"They... I..." He couldn't find the words. "Um... I just like to collect old things." He lied. Jisung's eyebrows knitted together.

"I know it's more important than that." He said. "Please tell me the truth."

"All of those people... I loved them..." He said. Jisung was confused. "See, I knew you'd be confused and I knew this conversation would come up... But not so soon..."

"What conversation? What does that mean?" The younger asked. Chris but his lip and stood up. He pointed towards the oldest picture.

"Him... His name was Hyunjin. I loved him first. Four hundred and twenty-five years ago... I was sixteen..." Chris started. Jisung had never been more confused. "He was an elf... He lived in a clan, he was a traditional elf. He left his clan to be with me. To run away with me... He was killed when the clan keeper found us. She tried to kill me, but... I don't know... It didn't work? I tried to die so many times but I always just healed. I just can't." Chris explained.

"What are you talking about, hyung? What do you mean?" Jisung asked. Chris felt tears of frustration come to his eyes and he stomped his foot.

"I mean, I'm four hundred and fourty-one! And everyone on here is who I've ever fallen in love with. From Hyunjin to the last one... Jeongin..." His voice held some kind of sorrow as he said the boys name. "Jeongin... It was so long ago but I can't stop thinking about it... Almost twenty years." He sighed.

"Hyung?" Jisung said. Chris looked at him with glossy eyes. "What happened to Jeongin?" Chris looked down to the floor.

"He couldn't stand anything anymore... And I couldn't help him... I couldn't stop him... He... He killed himself..." Chris said. Jisung stood up, walking over to Chris who was now crying. He wrapped his arms around him.

"I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I brought it up." He apologized. Chris shook his head.

"It had to come out eventually. You had to know some day." Chris reassured. They stood in silence, Jisung moving away and sitting on the edge of the bed. Chris looked at him as Jisung looked down. "Jisung?" The younger looked up, nodding.

"Uh-huh?"

"Can I... Try something?" He asked. Jisung tilted his head as Chris moved closer until their lips met. Jisung's eyes widened, heart pounding and tummy fluttering. He looked at Chris' closed eyes in disbelief. Chris pulled away, slowly opening his eyes and meeting Jisung's.

"Woah..." Jisung gasped. Chris looked concerned. _Oh shit, that was bad, I shouldn't have done that. What bad timing-_ "Do it again." Jisung said. Chris smirked, moving forward again, allowing their lips to brush together. Jisung closed his eyes, waiting for Chris to fill the small gap.

When he didn't get what he wanted, he placed his hand on the back of Chris' head, pulling him forward. They stayed like that for a while, shifting into a comfortable position as their lips familiarized with each other. Jisung's on Chris', gently pressing together, their teeth lightly clashing and tongues dancing. Until Chris pulled away, lips and cheeks red. Jisung smiled at him.

"Is there something you haven't been telling me?" He giggled, wiping his mouth. Chris let out a small laugh and nodded. His tongue sat between his teeth.

"Jisungie..." He started. "I think I'm in love with you." He said. The younger smiled even wider, which had Chris melting at the sight. His smile was so beautiful.

"I know I'm in love with you, hyung." Jisung told him. Chris returned the smile.

The next day Chris stayed home from work to take care of Jisung, leaving the shop to Minho and Seungmin despite Jisung's reluctant pleads to go to work with him. So neither of them went. Instead, Chris let Jisung sleep in until 11 am. He made him breakfast which Jisung barely touched and they spoke over tea.

"I don't know what to do anymore." Jisung sighed, taking a sip of his cardamom tea. Chris hummed and reached forward, holding Jisung's hand in his. Jisung stared at their hands as Chris spoke.

"I don't want you to go back to that house." Chris said. Jisung looked up. "If you have nowhere else to go, then stay here." Chris told him.

"Really? I can?" Jisung gasped, eyes wide and sparkly. Chris nodded.

"I want what's best for you." He said. Jisung gave him a small smile.

"Thank you." He said quietly, looking down and playing with Chris' hands. "You... Don't know how much you mean to me." He told him.

"Oh, yeah? How much is that?" Jisung giggled and held out his arms as if to tell him how much.

"More than that." He said. Chris let out a small chuckle. "You're so important." Jisung said. His eyes turned glassy, tears threatening to spill from his eyes. "I'm scared you'll leave me when I get old and ugly." He cried. Chris laughed at his concern, holding his hand as reassurance.

"If I aged, I'd be practically dust at this point. Do you think I'm allowed to judge?" Chris laughed. Jisung smiled through his tears, wiping them away with his sleeve.

"For real..." Jisung said, his voice delicate. Chris leaned over the table, planting a kiss on Jisung's forehead.

"I won't leave you." Chris said. Jisung squeezed his hand and let out a large breath. "I have some work to do, so you stay here. I'll be in my study if you need anything." Chris said. Jisung nodded as the older man walked away.

Jisung spent the day cuddled up on the couch while Chris worked in his study. It wasn't until around 6 pm that Chris finished and found him on the couch. He smiled softly at the younger boy, admiring his peaceful state.

"Jisungie..." Chris said quietly, poking the latter. Jisung groaned and Chris laughed at his reaction. Jisung reached up and grabbed Chris' hand lazily.

"Lay with me." He mumbled. Chris gave in, laying down and cuddling with Jisung. After a bit they began to talk about nothing. Just running thoughts that the half asleep boy had presented for debate.

_"_ _Do fish have feelings? How many ants have I stepped on today? What noise do rabbits make? If I can see the stars from here, can a star see me?"_ He just spewed out nonsense for Chris to answer. For the first time in he 400 years of life, Chris was pretty much speechless.

"Why are you like this?" Was all he could say back. Jisung just smiled. "I have a surprise for you." Chris said. Jisung shot up immediately, smiling wide.

"Really? That's so fun!" He said excitedly.

"Yeah but you have to get up to see it." Chris told him. Jisung did, immediately, bouncing up and down with anticipation. "You're gonna break the floorboards." Chris laughed. Jisung continued to bounce, a bit softer however which caused Chris to roll his eyes.

"What is it!?" Jisung questioned. Chris took hi hand in his and brought the latter upstairs, leading him to his office. Before he opened the door her turned to Jisung.

"Close your eyes." He told him. "And I'll know if you're peaking." He said. Jisung did as he was told and Chris opened the door, walking him into the room. It smelled sweet, like rosewater and honey. There was a hint of the warm scent of tea as Chris sat Jisung down on a pillow on the floor.

"Can I look yet?" He asked. He heard Chris stand up and something was placed on the coffee table in front of him.

"No." Chris sat back down next to him and held his hand again. "Now you can open your eyes." So Jisung did. He opened his eyes to see little stars, like flecks of dust, painted into the ceiling while other stars were projected onto the walls from little lamps.

The room had pillows and blankets all over the floor. A teaset stood on the table in front of him, accompanied by a plate full of cookies and two slices of cheesecake. Jisung looked at Chris, tears welling. Chris just smiled.

"You..." Jisung could barely even begin his sentence, out of words before he had them. He lunged himself forward and wrapped his arms around Chris.

"What?" Chris chuckled, petting Jisung's head. Jisung kept his head buried in Chris' chest. "Hey, Jisungie, what's wrong?" He asked.

"Thank you..." The younger cried. Chris smiled and kissed the top of his head.

"I thought you'd enjoy a tea party under the stars. Just to clear your mind from everything going on recently." He explained. Jisung nodded and looked up, wiping his tears. "Come on, stop crying and let's have some tea." Chris said, smiling.

The two ate their slices of cake and drank their tea, drifting into conversation about the flower shop and the new plants. Jisung seemed to really love their new plants. He thought they looked funny. Minho absolutely hated them however, which made Jisung a bit aggravated.

When they finished their tea, Jisung laid down on the floor, staring up at the stars. Chris laid next to him and their conversation drew on from plants to Jisung's curiosity.

"Have you ever had children?" Jisung asked. Chris shook his head. "What? All these years?" He asked, shocked.

"No. I don't want to." Chris explained. Jisung perched his head on his arm, looking at Chris.

"Why not?" Chris was silent for a bit, his eyes slowly darting back from Jisung to the fake stars.

"I'm scared I'll be a bad father." He told the younger. Jisung frownrd and looked away.

"Oh."

"Do you want kids?" Jisung nodded slowly but surely.

"But... only with someone I love." He said. He looked to Chris and smiled. "I think I'd be okay with having them with you." Jisung said. He moved closer to Chris and took his hand in his. "I love you." He told him.

"I love you too, Jisung." Chris said. They fell asleep together in that room, surrounded by star lights and blankets. When the morning came, Chris decided to make the two breakfast.

"Have we been around each other enough for me to be on the wall yet?" Jising asked as he set a cup of tea in front of Chris. Chris sighed and put his spatula down. He was making pancakes.

"Why are you so eager to be on that wall?" He asked, chuckling. Jisung looked at him as if the answer was the most obvious thing in the world.

"It's because I wanna be remembered by you. I want you to see the picture and remember that you were important in my life and played as a main character." He said. Chris looked down.

"But... what if you don't love me for your entire life? What if you die prematurely?" He asked. Jisung shrugged.

"Well... I can't guarantee that I'll love you forever, but... hey, what if we both have pictures of each other! I'll carry one in my wallet for the rest of my life, and you keep one on your wall forever!" Jisung suggested. Chris tilted his head.

"I... no one's done that for me, Jisung. I can't really... wow..." He said. He blinked a few times before looking away and shaking his head. "No. You're too young, you'll forget about me."

"If I forget about you, I'll slap myself in the face and come right back here to your house and kiss you, just to remember how much I love you." Jisung explained. Chris smiled.

"Yeah, you do that." He laughed. Jisung hugged him from behind and kissed his cheek.

"You are so important to me."


End file.
